Dealer told to pay 30K for selling tyres from grey market as branded

The district consumer forum has held a Navi Mumbai-based dealer guilty of sourcing tyres from the grey market and fraudulently selling them to a motorist claiming them as the original make of a branded firm. The Belapur-based Travencore dealers were recently directed by the additional Thane district consumer redressal forum led by Tryambak Thool to pay over Rs 30,000 as compensation to a businessman, Anand Marathe, who had registered a cheating complaint against the dealer. The forum directed the dealer to refund Rs 16,800 as the cost of tyres along with interest calculated at 6 per cent since 2011 to Marathe along with Rs 8,000 as litigation charges and for the mental agony caused to him. The forum said the dealer was not an authorized dealer of the product and had illegally purchased the products from grey market for maximizing on his profits. The case dates back to December 2010, when Marathe had purchased the tyres from the dealer who assured him the same were genuine. He however, failed to produce a proper warranty card for the same, thus raising suspicion in Marathe’s mind. Marathe later approached the company after he heard some sound from the tyres while driving the car. He informed the company details of the transactions following which they told him that the tyres were made in Thailand and not meant for sale in India. Marathe approached the dealer who initially refused to entertain the case and later committed to refund his money. However, despite ursuing him for several months, there was no result following which Marathe approached the consumer forum in April 2013. Marathe has since started insisting on valid warranty cards for tyres.